The Ken-Betwa river linking project also requires significant diversion of land in the Panna Tiger Reserve and loss of habitat for a highly endangered vulture species. Photo: MintNew Delhi: The environment ministry’s wildlife panel has given the go-ahead to a project to interlink the Ken and the Betwa rivers, amid concerns related to the submergence of critical tiger and vulture habitats. The project also requires significant diversion of land in the Panna Tiger Reserve and loss of habitat for a highly endangered vulture species. Environmentalists, convinced that the case would soon go to court, point towards discrepancies in the data used by the environment expert panel and the wildlife panel for clearing the project. However, Thakkar pointed out, the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report submitted to the panel said that only 4,141 hectares of the tiger reserve would be submerged.

Source: Mint September 20, 2016 17:00 UTC